Shilen a good BR rifle to start with?

S

Steelringer

New member
I am not a serious BR shooter, but do shoot competiitively as best I can. Been shooting mostly Varmint types in club competition shoots like 40X, and Cooper,etc. Came across a Shilen DGA short action Light Varmint BR rifle in nice shape. It with Shilen ss bbl, trigger and Shilen BR stock in 6PPC. It supposedly has low round count and sells for C$2000. Any suggestions would help. Would this be a good firearm to get more more serious with and is it a reasonable price? I assume the BR shooters on this site would be able to offer some good advice. Thanks. :)

S.
 
Last edited:
Yes it's a good action. More important is "Who built it?" If it's a pro-build then the DGA is a fine action. 2000 may be a little high??? For this price it must be minty and professionally built/pedigreed.

Go to The List at Shooters Corner for a bunch of comparisons.

http://www.benchrest.com/shooterscorner/

Also check the classifieds right here.


KEEP with the questions....... this is a whole new world! Also important are fitted dies?? Scope??


Hopefully someone clarifies "Shilen stock" as that's got me stymied.


this will get the ball rolling ;)


al
 
Price?

I would think you could find something very nice used for that money, make sure it was a winning rig if you can find out who had it and how it performed have seen a few on BC Classifieds between 1600-2000 us. Don't jump on the first thing you see, pays to shop a little, happy hunting.
 
Shilen makes fine equipment, not state of the art but can still be competitive.
it seems used BR rifles always have low round count or virtually new barrels, the only way to buy a used BR rifle is to assume the rifle is going to need to be replaced . Even if barrel is excellent $2000 is too much money unless it has a good 36x scope included.

Dick
 
Dga

I am not sure how long it has been since Shilen stopped production on those actions, but the ones that were built were pretty good. Keep in mind, most of those were produced before the era of "CAD-CAM" Machining. In other words, they were a production item, but not in the quantities that more modern machining techniques allow.

In truth, they will probably hold their own with any standard BR action made today. They were manufactured from the appropriate steels for the application, and as far as I know, were dead on true. But, of course, they are not the "latest thing".

But, that being said, Iwould not pay over $1500 for just the Rifle, there are simply too many Benchrest Rifles on the used market now to justify much of a higher price.

That is, unless you are talking about nostalgia value. Those DGA's were nice, and remind many of a bye-gone era, and some people place a high value on that. ........jackie
 
Shilen BR

Looks like the price is a bit high then. No scope :(, just bases installed. Allow another 20% to convert to US$. I discovered that Shilen stopped production of the DGA around 1990. And do not know the exact round count, neck thickness on the bbl. Methinks I will pass. Again, Thanks for the feedback; really been helpful. :)
 
tom g

what are you doing up this early ?.
Ijust got up from turning necs till 3 am
 
canuck pricing

canot be compared to the usa used market, only a few br rifles for sale in canada, AND EVEN FEWER GOOD ONES.

but the info shared here is top notch, and the classifieds is a good place to look, also knowing the builder or whom is selling may be invaluable.

Jeff
 
Shilen Stock!!!???!!!

HI Al...I feggerd someone wuld answer you by now....bak in the 70's when things were made much different than now (Like Butch said)...Shilen made a "turn key" rifle (lots of 222's--22X40--222 1/2's etc)..action--bbl.--stock--trigger...they were some of the best guns ever built....and as the shooter mentioned ,,the stock was Shilen....they were lamanited walnut with LARGE laminations...prolly 1/2" thick or thkr.....(Hart also had their own stocks,I had one on an ole' 1A,wish it was still here!!)...lots of them were thum-hole...they were very nice....How's that for givin away my age..grin....Roger
 
expiper said:
HI Al...I feggerd someone wuld answer you by now....bak in the 70's when things were made much different than now (Like Butch said)...Shilen made a "turn key" rifle (lots of 222's--22X40--222 1/2's etc)..action--bbl.--stock--trigger...they were some of the best guns ever built....and as the shooter mentioned ,,the stock was Shilen....they were lamanited walnut with LARGE laminations...prolly 1/2" thick or thkr.....(Hart also had their own stocks,I had one on an ole' 1A,wish it was still here!!)...lots of them were thum-hole...they were very nice....How's that for givin away my age..grin....Roger
Click to expand...

So it's probably an old "Cruiser??" Doesn't sound like it would make LV weight!

:)


al
 
From old Shilen Brochure

Steelringer said:
I am not a serious BR shooter, but do shoot competiitively as best I can. Been shooting mostly Varmint types in club competition shoots like 40X, and Cooper,etc. Came across a Shilen DGA short action Light Varmint BR rifle in nice shape. It with Shilen ss bbl, trigger and Shilen BR stock in 6PPC. It supposedly has low round count and sells for C$2000. Any suggestions would help. Would this be a good firearm to get more more serious with and is it a reasonable price? I assume the BR shooters on this site would be able to offer some good advice. Thanks. :)

S.
Click to expand...

Does it look like the rifle at the top of this photo?

161hjic.jpg
 
Some Else

About seven years or so ago, Nick Marino showed up at a match, (his first), with a old DGA in a thumb hole stock. That thing would absolutly stack one bullet on top of another.

I don't know if he still has it, but it was a very well built HV Rifle.........jackie
 
Shilen DGA

Yes, Gary. It looks like the rifle at the top of the pic. inserted. The stock is nice fibreglass bright blue color. It is not glued in either. Guess that does not make it a 'cruiser'? ;)
I am gaining a lot of knowledge as I read the replies. Thanks.:)

Just sent you a reply, Jeff.

S.
 
Be sure to bore scope this bbl. I bought a new bbl of the name in question; the rifling looked like a cheap steak knife inside.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top